Sunday, January 20, 2013

Encountering Suzanne at Yale
Every once in awhile, when an occasion merits, we like to travel up to New Haven, Connecticut to the Yale University Gallery of Art. It's an easy ride from Grand Central and a pleasant one as the railway borders Long Island Sound once you reach the Nutmeg state.

When you reach New Haven, you enter through a beautiful train station.

I recommend a taxi to the Gallery on Chapel Street,

which is in the heart of the Yale Campus and near the Green.

The Yale University Art Gallery has just completed a renovation and expansion. In fact, three buildings have been joined to form one museum. These include the 1953 modernist structure by Louis Kahn, the 1928 Old Yale Gallery and the 1866 Street Hall.

A costumed figure from the African collection.

The straw in the last straw in au courant couture.

A glass bead assemblage of a bird in the African gallery.

The collection has been rearranged and hung in beautiful, light-filled spaces which incorporate old and new architecture when possible.

A view from the fourth floor gallery on a gray day in January.

A signboard for The Société Anonyme by un artiste anonyme.

The inaugural special exhibit at the Yale Gallery is "The Société Anonyme -- Modernism for America." The Société Anonyme, Inc. was an organization founded in 1920 by the artists Katherine S. Drier, Marcel Duchamp, and Man Ray as America's first "experimental museum" for contemporary art.

The founding artists of The Société Anonyme.

The original gallery was at 19 East 47th Street in New York City.

It cost 26 cents to visit the first exhibition.

The organization showed works by renowned artists such as Constantin Brancusi, Piet Mondrian, Man Ray and Joseph Stella. The above painting of a crane is by Joseph Stella.

Suzanne

When I saw this portrait of artist, Suzanne Phocas, a member of the Société Anonyme, I was enchanted. With her little 1920s bob and sweet smile, she is truly lovely.

Child with Dog, 1925-26 by Suzanne Phocas

Suzanne was one of the lesser known artists in the Société Anonyme. Her work is idiosyncratic and uses naive and cubist forms. She was born in Lille, France and lived in Greece as a child.

This Kurt Schwitters construction is one my favorite pieces in the exhibition.

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Matisse & the Light of Nice
Beginning in 1917, Henri Matisse moved to Nice and lived in several hotels on the Mediterranean, including the one that we stayed at, Le Palais de La Méditerranée. On view now, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, is a exhibition called Matisse: In Search of True Painting.

This painting, Room at the Hotel Méditerranée, is in theshow at the MET, and was done in 1919.

Our terrace at Le Palais de la Méditerranée, and below,

the view of the sea from our room. Not quite the same decor, but the view is the same.

While we were in Nice, we took an excursion to the Matisse Museum situated on a hill above Nice in a town called Cimiez. The museum is easily reached by a bus which costs one Euro. It is housed in a pink villa which is set in a lovely park featuring statues of great American jazz musicians.

Before we went to the Museum, we stopped for

a coffee at the charming kiosk in the park.

I think that French people like to takethe time to enjoy life as with thismother and her son, setting up a table

under delicate tree branches.

Every French park has a carousel!

These must be sailboats on the Baie des Anges.

The Matisse Museum is set in a bucolic grove of trees.

Matisse did not actually live in this villa.

Richard wore the colors of Matisse and Nice.

Immediately after taking this photo, I was told by

a guard "No photos!" So what else is new?

Polynésie la mer. Papiers gouachés, découpés, collés et marouflés sur toile.
What I loved the most in the museum were

some fine examples of Matisse's gouache paper cutouts.

It's a trip worth making to this magical museum.

The Large Blue Dress, 1937

Back to the MET. This painting was done when Matisse moved further inland from Nice to Vence. He did this to get away from the threat of bombs during World War II. A Russian woman named Lydia Deletorskaya was his model and assistant at this time. She is the model for The Large Blue Dress.

And this, my dears, is the large blue skirt, sewn by Lydia expressly so that she might pose in it for the painting. The skirt is in the MET show, and of course, this is a totally purloined photo, taken when the eagle-eyed MET guard was looking another way. But one must have a photo of a big blue skirt!

Thursday, January 3, 2013

She'll Wake You UP!
Let's start the new year with color. Why not? One of my go-to designers is Alpana Bawa, who absolutely lives, drinks and dreams color. She's a fashion artist and master of color and shape who has been a fixture in Lower Manhattan for years in one shop or another, and now has opened a colorful den of design on Elizabeth Street in NoLita (that's north of Little Italy).

Des Autres

ABOUT ME

I'm an artist and milliner living in New York City. I study French, travel and adore la mode. I like to toss bons mots, maintain my credentials as a culture vulture and make ironic comments.
Photo by Ari Seth Cohen of Advanced Style.